A New World
by Ghost Hand
Summary: Inuyasha and his friends meet a strange girl with a dark secret. What could she be hiding, and why is she here? My first ever fanfic! Features one of my OCs in her story debut. Hiatus until I figure out what I'm doing with this.
1. Chapter 1

My first ever story on here! Not to mention my first fanfic not in my head. -u-; Tell me what you think!

Inuyasha r belongz to Rumiko Takahashi.

OC Akkei r belongz to ME.

* * *

><p>"Ugh, we've been walking forever!" Kagome stretched her arms and gave a yawn. She looked at the fading light of the sky. "We should set up camp for the night, guys."<p>

The others looked tiredly agreed. Except for Inuyasha, who just 'tched' and muttered "Lazy weaklings." The six weary travelers found a clearing by a river and started a campfire.

"I'll keep watch," said Sango. "These woods are full of bandits."

"Then maybe I should keep watch with you," Miroku said bravely, before being slapped for randomly grabbing Sango's butt. "Or, not. Heh heh."

Camp was just about ready when Kilala* suddenly hissed. "What is it Kilala?" Sango grabbed her Hiraikotsu as a strange rustling emanated from the bushes. The group cautiously wandered over. There was nothing but some trees and more bushes.

"Must have been a rabbit," Kagome halfheartedly stated. She was too tired for it to be something else.

"Kilala wouldn't hiss at a rabbit," Sango said, still concerned.

Just then, Inuyasha felt something hit his head. He looked down and saw an twig. "Hn." When he glanced back up, his friends had weird looks on their faces. "What?" They unanimously pointed up at the branch above his head. There was a snap and he looked just in time to catch a small gray bundle falling from the trees.

"W-what is it, Kagome?" Shippo asked, peering from around her leg.

"I don't know. It's not a rabbit, that's for sure."

"Not a bandit, either," Inuyasha said as the others gathered around. The small mound squirmed and the half-demon dropped it out of shock. They were all surprised when it squealed at the impact.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome stared angrily at the idiot.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault!"

The miko 'hmph'ed and picked up the mewling package. Slowly she unwrapped the piles of gray cloth. Just when she peeled back the last layer, a black, child-sized shadow leaped out, clawed Inuyasha's face, and ran off into the dark.

The silver-haired dog rubbed his face with one hand and shook his fist with the other. "Hey, get back here! I'm gonna pound you into dust you mangy little-"

"Sit, boy!"

As he peeled himself from an Inuyasha-shaped hole in the ground, the group went back to camp, pondering the strange encounter. "It was probably a cat someone didn't want," Miroku said nonchalantly.

Kagome shook her head. "It was too big to be a cat."

"A wild animal, then?" Sango suggested. "Maybe it was caught in a trap."

Again, the girl shook her head. "Not likely, with the way it was wrapped."

Inuyasha stomped over and jumped into a tree, his usual resting spot. "Well, whatever it was, it's gone now. Good riddance, too." He sat against the tree and closed his eyes. "If we're gonna get anywhere tomorrow, you weak people better get to sleep."

Begrudgingly, they agreed. With the exception of Sango, who was later relieved by Inuyasha, they drifted quickly to sleep and with it, forgot about the incident.

(-0o0-)

"_Today I overcome the transient world, Without superficial dreaming or intoxication, I shall change myself for your sake..."**_

Miroku awoke with a start. At first he thought he was still dreaming, but listening harder he realized he was indeed hearing someone singing. "What the...?"

He stood, stretching, and shuffled off curiously in the direction of the voice. Sango felt an emptiness and opened her eyes to see Miroku disappearing into the woods. She couldn't help but heave a deep sigh. "What is he up to now?"

Miroku didn't have to go far to find the singer. Peering around a tree, he saw a young woman washing her arms and face in the river. She was wrapped in a gray, sleeveless robe and a hood that covered her head. Miroku shifted to get a better look, stepping on a twig in the process. He froze, watching as she snapped her head up, then rose slowly and turned. Her hood covered most of her face, but from what he could tell she was good-looking.

"Who is there?" she inquired. Her voice was soft yet it carried, explaining why he could hear her sing from far away.

Sweating, the monk stepped forward. "Why, hello there. You don't need to worry, I am but a humble monk. My name is Miroku."

She smiled. "Oh. A monk you say? That is quite interesting to stumble upon you in these woods." The stranger giggled.

"Heh heh." Miroku saw his chance. "Well you are interesting yourself, what with all the robbers said to prowl here. You are a fine woman, so I must ask you-"

"MIROKU!" Seemingly out of nowhere, a large force hit the lecher's head and he quickly blacked out. What he didn't get to see was a very pissed off Sango glaring angrily above him while holding her Hiraikotsu.

"Oh my," the stranger gasped. She looked from Sango, to Miroku, and back again. "Hm. I think I understand what's going on here, and I apologize if I came between you and your loved one."

"What! No, no! It's alright, he's... You didn't... he's not my... it's not..."

The woman giggled. "Now I _really_ understand. You don't have to explain."

"Hey Sango! Miroku! Where are you?" Inuyasha and the others emerged from the bushes. "Oh, there you are, Sango. Hey, where'd you go? We woke up and you two were gone."

Kagome looked over at the gray-clothed woman. "Who is this? A friend of yours?"

"Ah, uh, no. I was just foll- er, walking- when I saw her here."

"Oh, forgive me, for I have not properly introduced myself." She bowed. "My name is Orokashii Akkei. I was traveling through these woods when I became lost. I was wondering where the nearest town might be."

"We can help you with that. We were just on our way out ourselves." Kagome smiled. "You can come with us, if you'd like."

"I would be most grateful, thank you." Akkei bowed once more, and followed the others as they left.

Five minutes later, Shippo had a thought. "I wonder where Miroku is?"

* * *

><p>AN:

*I know plenty of people debate it's spelled 'Kirara', but I personally prefer 'Kilala'. Besides, the 'r's in Japanese are pronounced sort of in between r and l, so it can be spelled either way.

** lyrics from the Iroha Song, translated. Found it on YouTube, thought it would fit. I do not own it in any way. Sung by (in the vid I found) Kagamine Rin.


	2. Chapter 2

So, if you couldn't tell by now, I'm not the most dedicated of fanfic writers -.-; Obviously, I'm more of a 'monthly' type of writer. Eh heh. Between school, homework, friends, and sleep, it's amazing I even have the time to write this.

Orokashii Akkei belongs to me.

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

* * *

><p>The town was quaint, nestled in the heart of thick woods. The people seemed friendly enough, although they were wary of strangers. Especially ones that brought demons into their midst.<p>

Inuyasha boiled as he felt the accusing eyes of the villagers stare at him. But, for fear of what Kagome might do to him, he said nothing. He mentally 'hmph'ed. This scrawny little girl, seemingly innocent and weak, was now controlling a powerful half-demon with merely her words. Oh, what the world has come to.

Kagome and the others definitely knew of the villagers' staring. They had made no attempt to hide it, after all. Finally, Shippo, young and naïve, had to speak up.

"Uh, Kagome?" He looked up at her, starting to worry. "Why are all these people looking at us?"

Before the miko could answer, a middle-aged man hobbled over to them. He in no way looked friendly, nor did he sound it when he barked: "Because you bring with you demons, that's why!" Shippo, surprised and scared, jumped behind Kagome to cower. The man looked down at him, leaning heavily on his walking stick. "Puh, a runty one, but a demon no the less." He turned his gaze to Inuyasha, who was steadily becoming more ticked off. "And this one. We do not like such presences in our village. Perhaps you should leave."

Kagome was sweating. "Ah, b-but they wouldn't hurt anyone. We're sort of demon _hunters_! We don't want to cause trouble-"

The man held up a hand. "Did you say you were demon hunters?" The group nodded in unison, sensing their chance. He rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment, then came to a decision. "Well, then, I suppose it's alright for you to stay here. We do have a bit of a demon problem from time to time, what with living in _these_ forests and all." He nodded, then turned away. "Come with me. I will show you a place where you can stay for tonight."

The others started to follow, but he abruptly stopped and turned his head back at them. "But _only_ for tonight. If you do not rid us of this demon by midday tomorrow, you must leave this village immediately." With that, he continued on his way.

They were led to a long, worn-out building with beautiful flowers growing around it. In front of it stood an equally old, short, but well-dressed woman. She did not seem to see them, and before they reached her the man motioned for them to stop so he could talk to her first. Those with keen ears heard him speak of 'demon hunters', 'strangers', 'help', and 'temporary lodging'. The old women just stood there for a moment, before nodding once. The group was waved over for introductions.

Before anything could be said, the woman looked slowly across the faces of these 'demon hunters'. Suddenly, her eyes opened in surprise and she shouted "Demons! Demons! Help, there's demons!" The old man dropped his stick and knelt to comfort the old gal. She stopped shouting, but continued to look on in horror, pointing her wrinkled, bony finger. Shippo, being the only full demon besides Kilala, followed her finger to see who exactly she was pointing at. At first, he thought it was the new stranger, Akkei. But that couldn't have been it, he determined. Inuyasha was standing next to her, so he decided that's where the half-blind lady must have been pointing.

After almost ten minutes, the granny finally calmed down. She looked reproachfully at them, then muttered: "You better not turn back on your word, tricky demons." With that, she stalked away to show them where their rooms were.

-^(n.n)^-

That night, the group discussed what to do about the demon problem.

Kagome munched on some bread. "Should we go looking for it or wait for it to show up?"

Miroku shook his head. "Not if we want to stay here comfortably. It's best to smoke the thing out of hiding, then ambush it. But, how to weasel it out...?" They thought hard. It was difficult, since no one gave them information on the demon.

Inuyasha 'tch'ed, as usual, and spoke up. "I'll just sniff it out, duh."

Miroku looked seriously to him. "But what if you can't?" He immediately put his hands up in defense when the half-demon stood up to confront him. "Now now, I'm not saying anything about your abilities. But, what I'm saying is, what if this demon is somewhere we can't just sniff out?"

Kagome tilted her head. "Huh? What do you mean?" At that moment, the ground violently shook, and screams sounded outside.

"Like underground," Miroku said, running outside. "It's happened before." The rest followed suit, coming upon the scene of a giant gray and red worm bursting out of the ground.

"Aw, it's not that scary," Shippo commented. It reared it's eyeless head and gave a terrifying screech. When it lowered itself, it bared thousands of razor-sharp teeth lining every part of it's mouth. The young fox gulped. "Um, n-never mind."

Inuyasha pulled out his Tessaiga. "Feh, this'll be easy work." He jumped up and prepared to swing at the monster. It turned quickly, knocking him aside and diving back into the ground. He growled in anger. "Hey, where are you going you coward!"

Kagome put her hand to her eyes and shook her head. He was really uncoordinated sometimes.

Suddenly, the beast shot up directly underneath her and the others. Yelling, Miroku and Shippo jumped away, while Kilala flew Sango to safety. Kagome tried to jump, but the worm started closing it's jaws, causing the chunks of ground to trap her foot. She screamed.

Inuyasha looked on, worried. "Kagome!" He took careful aim, and jumped, taking a single slash at the worm. In the next moment, he leaped to catch Kagome as she fell. Half of it's body was still in the ground, now headless. "Hah, what'd I tell ya? Piece of cake." He grinned.

The others smiled, thankful she wasn't hurt and the ordeal was quickly over. They turned to walk away when the ground started shaking again. The headless body began wiggling, rounding out to form a new head. At the same time, two more demon worms popped out of the ground.

Sango sighed. "Great. That figures. Miroku, can you get it with your Wind Tunnel?"

He looked around, thoughtful, then shook his head. "There's too many people. The things popped up in the center of town."

"Hn. Guess I'll have to cut them 'till their stubs." Inuyasha ran forward, sword swinging.

Kagome saw a problem with this. "Wait! Inuyasha!" It was too late; he was already chopping one into bits. Each time he sliced them to the ground, and each time they grew a mouth and another worm came to the surface. Sango had Kilala circling above so she could take a good look at the unmoving head. She gasped and landed immediately.

"I think I've seen this before. These things are just the heads of one demon. It lies underground, sticking it's heads up to feed. It almost never comes to the surface."

"Great, so you're saying there's a BIGGER thing to fight?" Kagome said, concerned. "Ugh, how do we fight this thing if we can't get to it?"

Miroku stroked his chin. "I think I have an idea. Inuyasha! Cut off all the heads as quickly as possible!"

Sango wrinkled her eyebrows. "Miro-?"

"No time. Gather as much dry brush as you can." The girls immediately ran to do as the monk said, trusting his word.

"Miroku, what exactly are you planning?" Akkei asked, still not quite getting it.

"We're going to feed it fire." He grinned. "If that doesn't make it come up, I don't know what will." Shippo raised his eyes, a bit surprised at his quick thinking.

Kagome and Sango returned with bundles of hay and twigs. Miroku gathered them into bunches and lit their ends. "Okay, when it's still growing it's head back, throw these down it's throat. That way it can't bite you when you do it. Got it?" Miroku asked, handing them both a bundle.

They nodded, and all three raced towards the writhing stubs. Akkei smiled. "Hmm, your friends are mighty interesting, little demon."

Shippo looked curiously up at the hooded figure. "Yeah, I guess."

She chuckled, still watching the battle. "But I bet you're the bravest among them, huh? How else would someone so small eagerly travel with such dangerous folks and live?"

He puffed out his chest proudly. "Yeah, they pretty much can't go on without me. I'm the toughest one here." A stray worm head landed in front of them. He yelped and hid behind Akkei. She merely chuckled again.

The ground started violently shaking and shifting, as if an earthquake hit. A pulsating gray mass with glowing red veins oozed out of one of the holes made by the heads. It was covered in thick tentacles, some of them now bleeding stubs. It gave off a loud, nails-on-chalkboard screech. Everyone covered their ears in pain.

"What do we do now?" Kagome shouted over the blob.

"Someone has to distract it while another person finds it's heart!" Sango directed. "It's the only way to be sure it dies."

Inuyasha growled. "Why can't I just cut this thing into pieces with Wind Scar! I'll get it's heart eventually!"

"For the same reason I can't use my Wind Tunnel!" Miroku yelled over to the dog-demon. "The village is too close!" A worm-tentacle knocked him away at that moment. Sango cried out and ran over to him.

Inuyasha bared his teeth. "In that case, I guess I'll distract him. Kagome, you find the heart!"

Kagome nodded tentatively, clutching her hand to her chest as was habit. Akkei looked at her face, examining her expression, then stepped in front of her.

"No, I'll do it."

Kagome gasped. "B-but Akkei! You don't have to-"

"No, I want to." She turned her head so Kagome could see her smile. "Consider this as repayment for helping me." Before the miko could object, she strode towards the screeching demon.

Inuyasha was having a tough time cutting off all the tentacles so she could get close. They were growing back at a rapid pace, and the ground wad becoming littered with lifeless heads. Akkei made quick work of finding the heart, though. Before her stood a large, steadily beating glow. She could tell it was buried deep in it's flesh.

"Hurry up!" Inuyasha called, grappling with three tentacles at once. The robed girl bowed her head, clasping her hands together. She quickly moved one hand away from the other, revealing a long, black smoky substance in the shape of a shard. She whipped her hand, throwing the thing at the beast. In a flash, it shot forward into the demon, cutting through the skin and flesh like it wasn't there. It pierced the heart, hitting it in a small black explosion. The monster cried out one final time, chunks of it falling out from the deadly wound. It settled with a thud, falling apart into a slimy mess.

The others forgot their momentary relief the thing was dead to stare in awe of this strange, powerful girl they found in the woods. She grinned, walking towards them and pulling back her hood. They gaped as they saw sharp fangs, short silver and black hair, and large, almond-shaped eyes, black surrounding large, golden irises and slitted pupils. Big, tufted black ears topped her head, and a deadly black and white barbed tail peeked out from her robe.

This girl was a demon.

* * *

><p>AN: In case any of you are wondering (and since it's interesting considering what's happened), Orokashii means (something like) foolish and Akkei means (something like) trick. (^^; I kinda lost the translations somewhere).

Also, if this story is too dragged-out, slow, or doesn't make sense, please tell me in a review! I'm all for constructive criticism.


	3. Chapter 3

My apologies for taking so long to update! (I have a feeling I'm going to be saying that a lot.) Really important stuff took over my entire October month. Otherwise you would've had it by Halloween ^.^; Anywho, on with the story!

Orokashii Akkei © me.

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi.

* * *

><p>Akkei laughed at their shocked expressions. "What? Expected something different?" She strode over to Kagome and closed her gaping mouth. She looked around at everyone's face. "This doesn't change anything, okay? I still owe you all one. After all, you showed me out of the woods, and so far are the only ones who have been kind to me." Then she settled her gaze on Kagome, the apparent leader of the group, for acceptance.<p>

"W-what?" She stammered.

Akkei crossed her arms. "I am _humbly_ asking to join your group. If but for a while, at least." A small smile played her lips then.

Kagome looked to the others for their opinion. "Well? Should she stay?"

Inuyasha was the first to say something, as usual. "Hmph. I say no. We have enough people as it is, and she's more obviously a demon than any of us."

"But Inuyasha, not even you knew she was a demon until she killed the worm and removed her hood," Shippo pointed out.

"Hey, I knew!" He bonked the kitsune on the head. The boy turned angrily on him.

"Well, knucklehead, if you knew, why didn't you tell us!"

"T-that's... I... assumed you guys could tell, too. I mean, it's so obvious, even a child could tell!" They all knew he was lying, but no one bothered to correct him. So, if hiding her true nature was a problem, she could obviously handle it.

"Hm," Miroku mused. "I think she would make an excellent addition to the team." Sango gave off dark waves, warning him to be careful of what he said next. He sweat-dropped. "Because of her ability, of course. She did take down that demon worm in one shot."

Sango nodded approval, either to his choice of words or in agreement, none could tell. "Oh yeah, what was that thing anyway? All I saw was a flash of black and the thing disintegrated."

Akkei held her hands out, clapped them together, then slowly moved them apart. Between them a long, smoky black thing stretched. She turned a hand palm-up, and the shard followed, though it wasn't touching her palm at all. Wisps of dark purple floated outward from it, disappearing after a certain distance from the source. "This is my favorite weapon. It's called a Kusatta tsume, and it's unique to me." She smiled and, hand still opened flat, made a motion like throwing a disk.* The dart

shot up into the air, and after a moment, exploded in a small sphere of darkness.

"So, why did the worm fall apart when you hit it with that?" Inuyasha inquired, still looking to where the explosion faded away.

Akkei scoffed. "Did you not pay attention? _Kusatta tsume_ means "**rotting** claw". When I explode the weapon, it essentially speeds up the decaying process of whatever it touches." At this, Shippo thought it safer to take a step or two back from the demoness.

"Well," said Sango. "That is a pretty powerful weapon. And we only have Kagome for precise long-ranged attacks..."

Akkei's ears twitched and her tail swished, causing Shippo to take yet another few steps back to avoid the barbs. "Does this mean I can stay?" she asked, giving them puppy-dog eyes.

"Well... " began Kagome. Once more she looked to the others. All but Inuyasha and, surprisingly, Shippo, said okay. Inuyasha stuck to his opinion that they had too many people as it was, while Shippo said nothing. He simply cowered on Kagome's back, being neither a yes or a no.

Ignoring Inuyasha's protests, Kagome held out a hand. "Welcome, then."

(/-.-)/ \(-.-\)

The villagers begrudgingly offered their thanks the next day. Feeling the pressure, the group left quickly. They wandered on the path through the woods, which twisted like a snake until coming to the end of the woods and turning to follow a cliff edge. Below, water crashed and the wind blew salt air to them. Akkei marveled at it, wide eyes taking in the shades of blue and the smell of the scene. Kagome noticed this out of the corner of her eye.

"Is this your first time to the ocean?"

Akkei nodded, never taking her sight off the churning waves. "We don't have anything like this where I come from." Then she put a finger to her chin, as if in thought. "Well, we _do_, but it's not water exactly. There's almost none of _that_, and I haven't seen it." She was about to continue, before thinking better of it and keeping shut.

Kagome was curious. "Where do you come from, if you haven't seen water?" 'Is there even such a place?' She wondered mentally. Akkei simply smiled and didn't say a thing.

There was a silence that stretched on for awhile. Something was a little off; the newcomer wasn't asking questions. Usually people ask questions when they meet someone for the first time, but that was okay if Akkei didn't want to.

Soon they reached a little fishing town, where the market was bustling and the people were lively. Akkei put up her hood and curled up her tail, so as not to startle anybody.

"Ah, Akkei, you don't have to-" Kagome began.

"I'd prefer it if as few people as possible knew what I looked like," she said mysteriously. Kagome, ever the equalizer, started to say something in her defense, but Sango grabbed her shoulder.

"I think she has a personal reason for this," she said softly. "It's better to let her deal with this herself." Kagome nodded, understanding.

The townspeople weren't as superstitious as the little village was. They had seen their fair share of demons, and by now Inuyasha and the others had gained some renown. The town treated them as normal people. Well, as normal as that _particular_ group could be.

They bought some fish and had Akkei try some. She squealed with delight at her first taste and quickly devoured all they had bought. Awkwardly they bought some more and let Inuyasha carry the bag. Then they went and got some new clothes for her; a longer robe to comfortably hide her tail and a large veil and headdress to cover her facial features and ears. Akkei grinned happily and purred slightly. Kagome thought it was ironically cat-like and totally opposite of the dog-demon Inuyasha. After all, they didn't seem to be getting along that well. Inuyasha was suspicious and slightly unaccepting of the newcomer, while Akkei appeared to simply be ignoring him.

Kagome sighed inwardly. This situation was awfully familiar: when Koga and Inuyasha met, they were definitely at odds due to their species. It only added to the problem that both wanted Kagome for themselves. She blushed a little at this thought and focused on helping pick out the night's supper.

(.w.) ('w') (-w-)

The mismatched group finally settled for the night in an inn. Inuyasha, Shippo, and Miroku were sentenced to another room (very forcefully after Miroku tried another unsuccessful lecherous move on Sango), and the girls retired to their own shared room. Sango and Kagome were very happy about having another girl to stay with; it was very tiresome to be stuck with handfuls such as the boys for so long.

As the miko and demon hunter prepared their beds, Kilala padded over to where Akkei was gazing out the window. She circled a few times before curling tail to nose next to the humanoid demoness. Without taking her eyes off the scenery, Akkei leaned over and scratched the small cat's ears. Purring filled the quiet of the night.

After Sango was done, she silently walked over to the duo. "Hm, I haven't seen her do that in awhile."

"Do what?" Akkei inquired.

Sango smiled. "Take to someone so quickly. You have a way with cats it seems." She had noticed a band of strays following her throughout the market.

Akkei shrugged. "They sense a familiar spirit, I guess. Not like they come when I want, more like when _they_ feel like it." Her large, golden eyes shimmered, reflecting the starlight sky and the sea, which also held the starlight. She sighed. "I'm probably going to miss this," she murmured under her breath.

"What was that?" Sango asked.

"Nothing," Akkei automatically replied in monotone. Then she closed her eyes for a second, thinking. "Can you guys... do me a favor?"

Kagome tilted her head toward her, half-way laying down already. "Sure, anything."

Akkei swallowed. "When I leave... don't put up a fight."

Kagome stood up instantly. "What do you mean, 'when you leave'? I said- _we_ said- you can stay with us!"

Akkei smiled, her eyes still closed. "Don't worry. If everything worked out how I planned, I won't be leaving for awhile." With that, she curled herself into a ball beside Kilala and fell into the deep lull of sleep.

* * *

><p>AN:

*I meant to say Frisbee, but only Kagome might know what that is, so I generalized it. :3

Gah! Hope you like! ;3 I'm slightly displeased myself with it, but whatever. Ohsies, and since I don't think it's okay to share a link in a fanfic (I'm not sure), I'll tell you how to find a pic I drew of Akkei. Go to deviantART, look up her name. It is the deviation titled 'Orokashii Akkei' and is by sugar-hype99. Okay, that's all. :)


	4. Chapter 4

My apologies for taking so long to update! (I have a feeling I'm going to be saying that a lot.) Really important stuff took over and I want to get this out before I go away for vacation. Otherwise you would've had it by Halloween ^.^; Anywho, on with the story!

Orokashii Akkei © me.

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi.

It had been a week, and Akkei was starting to fit in. The guys still gave her weird looks every now and then (except Shippo of course), but the girls were trying their best to make her feel accepted. They had no encounters with demons all week, making Kagome suspicious of their good luck.

"It's probably because of the company we keep," Miroku mused when she commented on it.

"What do you mean?" she asked, hoping he wasn't singling Akkei out for something.

"Well, we do have four-" He glanced over at Inuyasha. "Excuse me, _three and a half_ demons with us. That combined with our strength could be driving lesser demons away."

"He could be right," Sango agreed, as Inuyasha began insulting and hitting the monk. "We're like a big warning sign to those that sense our power." She smiled at Kagome, who was trying to listen above the bickering behind them. "Besides, it's not like we've gone traveling before and not encountered something for days on end."

Shippo skipped backwards in front of them. "Yeah Kagome. Shouldn't we be _happy_ we're not running into trouble anyway?"

"Heh, you're right," she replied through a tight smile. Then she held up a finger. "Excuse me a moment." She whipped around, fists clenched and teeth grinding. "SIT BOY!"

With a loud _whump_ Inuyasha faceplanted hard into the ground. Akkei, who was walking behind everyone, giggled into her hand.

"Ow! Hey! What'd you do that for!" Inuyasha glared up at the schoolgirl who had crossed her arms and was tapping her foot impatiently.

"You need to learn some manners! You can't just go picking fights just because someone makes fun of you."

Miroku grinned cheekily. "Yeah Inuyasha. Play nice."

Sango grabbed his ear and yanked. "That goes for you, too, mister. I swear, if me and Kagome weren't here, nothing would get done." She gave a long-suffering sigh.

Kagome sighed as well. "It's like looking after children," she agreed.

Shippo paled. "Hey, what about me!"

Kagome smiled and bent down to pat his head. "It's okay. You're the good kid." Shippo giggled and grinned. When the two females started walking again, he looked over his shoulder and stuck his tongue out at Miroku and Inuyasha.

"Why you little brat..." Inuyasha gritted his teeth and stood, but didn't say anything else. Akkei, meanwhile, was trying to hold back her laughter. He whipped his head around and narrowed his eyes.

"What's so funny?"

She waved him off. "Nothing, nothing. It's just quite clear to me who wears the pants in these relationships."

Kagome and Sango stopped and turned, blushing. They started to say something, but Akkei giggled and waved again, walking ahead.

Later that day, around sunset, they started looking for a place to rest. Kagome and Shippo found a cave in a low cliff-face. The others gathered, and just as they got close, they simultaneously stopped. There was something wrong.

A hissing sound came from deep withing the cave. "Demons!" Miroku whispered.

All of a sudden, two huge, mantis-like creatures emerged. They had two long, wicked-looking blades for arms, two tiny ones with three fingers below them, and pinser-like mouths set on wide, squished faces. Pale eyes sat on either end of their head, facing forward and resembling a fly's. Their bodies were covered in shell-like armor and spikes.

"Well well, brother, what do we have here?" said one with a light gray body.

"Mmm, sssseemsss like a couple of tasssty morsselsss have wandered by," replied the puke-green one.

They began circling, hissing and clicking their mandibles. "What do proposssse we do, Rogu?"

Rogu rubbed his front legs together, producing a screeching noise that had the group covering their ears. "What a ssssilly quessstion, Maru. We should eat them, of coursssssse." With that, they lunged forward.

Miroku swung his staff at the head of the one called Maru, sending him flying backwards with a loud _thwock_. Inuyasha jumped and kicked at Rogu, who managed to block it with one of his blades. One of his smaller arms shot forward and grabbed Inuyasha's foot, and he used his momentum to swing him out of the way. Inuyasha landed against a tree, cushioning the impact with his face.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called, both worried and angry at him for constantly getting hit in the head.

Sango pulled out her giant boomerang and let if fly with a shout of "Hiraikotsu!" The weapon spun past Rogu, who ducked out of it's way.

"Ha!"

Maru stood up, his head seemingly uninjured. His eyes went wide. "Brother, behind you!" he hissed.

Rogu turned, then ducked as Hiraikotsu whipped back at him. He escaped with a hit to his upper arm, which didn't seem to hurt him any. Sango caught it, and the mantis clicked angrily at her. "That wasssn't fair."

She smirked. "Who says I have to play fair?" He hissed, then fell as Inuyasha swung his sword downward from behind him. Immediately he swiped at Inuyasha's legs, causing the half-demon to fall.

"Tch, stupid beetle," he scoffed. Rogu got up and brushed himself off casually.

"We're not beetlesss, you sssstupid mutt!" He ran at him, blades arched back to swing.

Maru jumped up to an amazing height before landing heavily on Miroku's shoulders, causing him to stumble. The insect dug his clawed toes-one facing forward and one back -into the monk and brought his own blades down to slice his back. Akkei leaped just as impressively from a distance and slammed into Maru right before he could make contact, leaving Miroku with two tears in his sash. The two tumbled away in a tangle of sharp blades and limbs.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha and Rogu were battling it out, blades against Tessaiga. "You can't defeat ussssss," Rogu hissed. "Our exosssskeletonsss are immune to any attack!"

Maru chuckled as he struggled against Akkei, who was edging her barbed tail towards him. "That'sss right. Our armor isssss impenetrable!"

"We'll see about that!" Inuyasha yelled, swinging his sword heavily and calling out "Adamant Barage!" Rogu clicked his mandibles in surprise and swiftly leaped forward. A few shards from Inuyasha's attack pierced his hind legs, causing him to screech, but in the mean time he barreled into the half dog-demon.

"Brother!" Maru called upon hearing the cry. It gave Akkei just the distraction she needed, and she threw him to his belly. She growled and, shoulders bunching up like hackles, held two of his arms down and put her tail through the back of his knee. He hissed in pain. "Thisss issss not how it'sss sssuposssed to happen! You should not be able to do thisss!"

Miroku, rubbing his shoulders, looked between the two fights. "Guys, it looks like we know how to defeat them!"

"What are you talking about!" called Inuyasha, who was having to grapple Rogu with one arm while holding tightly to his Tessaiga in the other.

Sango nodded. "I get it. Their armor doesn't cover their joints, so those are the weak spots. We can hit those, and in the mean time," she called out to the white-haired mutt who managed to throw off his opponent, "Inuyasha, use your Adamant Barrage again; it seems to be able to get through their armor."

"I'm on it. Adamant Barage!" Another wave of diamond shards were loosed from the sword, but now the mantis had a warning. He easily avoided the attack, then swiftly came around to strike Inuyasha from behind. The half-demon gritted his teeth as razor-sharp prongs toreed into his back and left thigh.

"Weak little mutt," Rogu hissed into his ear before pushing off his back and back into a fighting stance. Inuyasha growled and clutched the wound on his leg.

"Call me that one more time, you ugly beetle!"

Rogu dove forward. "Weak," he ducked as Inuyasha swung around with his sword, "little," jumping over Tessaiga, closer now, "mutt!" As soon as he was close enough, the white-haired warrior lashed out with his soaked hand, calling out "Blades of Blood!"

The trademark red lines arced through the air and through his short, skinny neck. With a single, strangled gasp, the viscous Rogu fell to dust.

Maru wailed defiantly at seeing his brother's quick demise. Clicking his mandibles in a fierce, desperate panic, he heaved Akkei off of him and ripped her tail from his knee. He stumbled swiftly away, rolling and dragging his deadened leg. In the blink of an eye, he was already to the edge of the woods that bordered the bottom of the cliff-face. Akkei rolled her head and narrowed her eyes.

"Should we go after him?" Kagome asked.

Miroku shook his head. "I'm not sure he's much of a threat without his brother. Besides, even crippled he's quite fast. You'd have to shoot an arrow to hit him now."

Akkei raised an arm like she was about to use a hammer. "He's not that far away... _Itami no rasshu,_*" she murmured. She brought her fist down and a long, dark whip extended from her hand. It seemed to be made of similar substance to her Kusatta tsume, and as the wave traveled along it's length it seemed to grow ever longer, until it reached it's target: the retreating Maru. It wrapped around his unprotected waist and stopped him in his tracks. He looked wildly back, and even from the distance they could hear him cry out. Akkei gave a hard yank and, with a slight crunching sound, the mantis demon snapped in half.

The remorseless cat-like woman opened her hand and the whip disappeared. Patting her robes, she gazed at the sky. "It's dark. We should rest." With that, she turned and went into the now uninhabited cave. The others stared wordlessly after her, but soon followed suit.

A/N:

*Akkei's attack _Itami no rasshu_ means 'pain lash'.


	5. Chapter 5

Did ya miss me? ^.^ Back from vacation, and I don't have work tomorrow (lucky me :P), plus the speed at which my friend is updating has spurred me to bring some life back into this story! That is, assuming anyone still bothers with this thing anymore… Sorry for the shortness as well, it seemed like a good place to stop.

Orokashii Akkei © me.

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi.

* * *

><p>The night was long and chilly. Though restless, one by one the band of demon hunters fell asleep. All except Kagome and Akkei, that is.<p>

Kagome stared at the other female's back for a long while. Her breathing showed the demoness to be awake, but Kagome wasn't sure what to say. Finally, she scooted over and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Akkei?"

"Hm?"

"Um…" Kagome started playing with her fingers, trying to form the words in her mind.

Akkei sighed and turned her head to the miku. Her slitted golden eyes shone in the embers of the small fire they had built to keep out the chill. "Is this about the fight? Honestly, if it is, then it seems mighty ridiculous to lecture me on killing that mantis demon. Not to mention hypocritical."

Kagome shook her head. "No! No, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Um, I actually wanted to ask you… about what you said last week. About you leaving."

Akkei narrowed her eyes a bit, then sat up, sighing once more. "I figured this would come up eventually." She turned her head to the side and mutter "Though I was hoping we would cross that bridge when we got to it." The silver-and-black haired woman took a deep breath and looked Kagome straight in the eye. "What about it?"

Kagome's expression grew worried. "Are you really going to leave us? Not that you _have_to stay, and the decision's totally up to you and everything. But, why do you plan on it like it's going to happen really soon and…" She stopped, unsure of how to phrase the rest of the question. The way Akkei had said it, she didn't want to leave, but she would have to, and it would happen in a bad way. Of course, friends leaving was always unfortunate, but something told her something more was going on.

Akkei gave a small, fake smile. "You're right; I suspect it will be soon. And no, I don't have much choice in the matter." Her face dropped. "If I _did_ have a say, though, I would definitely chose to stay here. Particularly because once I go back, the punishment I'll have to face…" She shuddered.

Kagome quirked her head. "Punishment?" The wheels in her head turned until she got it. "So… you're not supposed to be here right now? You ran away?"

The demoness nodded, a truer smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Is that why you've been travelling with us? To avoid being found?"

Now the smile turned wry. "Partly. It is easier to avoid detection if I am not in one place for too long. But mostly it is to travel, see the world out here and what normal people are like." She gazed wistfully out at the night, like she had when she first told them of her having to leave. "It's the reason I ran away, you know. I couldn't stand it where I was."

The younger girl raised an eyebrow. "And where exactly is that?"

The wry smile was back. "Wouldn't you like to know?" She turned to face her, expression serious once more. "I should warn you, though: When they come to take me back, it's not going to be pretty. Chances are they will send someone powerful." She scoffed. "Tch. They'll need to, if they want to be able to drag _me_ back to that putrid dung-hole."

Kagome giggled a bit. "You really don't like it there, huh?" A sneer and nod confirmed this. "So why are you there in the first place?"

Akkei lowered her brows. "That is a tough question to answer. I really shouldn't tell you too much… But I will say this: First off, I have a rather important job there. Boring after how long I've done it, and not very exciting every few centuries, but important nonetheless."

Kagome's eyes widened at the mention of time. Sure, she knew demons lived a long time; heck, Inuyasha and his brother were over 50 and it didn't show (though Inuyasha's deal was in part due to being pinned to the Sacred Tree); but to talk of centuries like they were nothing meant Akkei had to be _ancient_.

"Second," Akkei's words brought Kagome out of her reverie, "_they_ would rather us not leave too often. It's strictly regulated traffic in and out- well, more so out- so they prefer to keep us there if they can help it."

The miku shook her head. "Who is this 'they' you keep mentioning?"

Before she even finished asking, Akkei was wagging a finger. "I thought you might ask that. It is also another one of the things I can't tell you. But trust me, you wouldn't want to know. They're above me in rank and, incrementally, in power. The higher up the hierarchy you go, the less pleasant they get." A deep frown formed. "Smelly old goats they may be, but the older they get, the wiser and more dangerous they become."

Kagome tried processing this information as they decided to bid their goodnights and get some rest. Akkei seemed pretty strong as it were. But here she was talking about a number of demons in charge of her and more powerful, and not without a hint of respectful fear. It was the same feeling she used to describe Naraku with when she had known little of her powers.

Her hands clenched. Was it Naraku Akkei was talking about? If the demon was indeed in command of Akkei… She shook the thought from her head. No, it wasn't likely. Not with how old she'd hinted at being. Plus, if with age came power…

She glanced at the now sleeping form across the cave. _Does this mean Akkei's even above Naraku?_


End file.
